For all the learn to play the piano courses online, they frequently claim that a lot of popular songs only contain four chords and that’s it. This claim is often made with other claims that range from the seemingly unlikely, such as “this is a totally unique program”, to the utter absurd one I read the other day that claims that reading music is essentially bad for your brain.
Despite the somewhat outlandish claims that these peddlers of online piano courses state, the one about a lot of popular songs only requiring four chords is actually true. I don’t just mean that they use only four chords, I mean that they can use exactly the same four chords.
The implication is that you can literally play many, many songs in a few short weeks. The downside though is that they can all sound very similar to each other, so you are not going to get a variety of sounds. However, if this is exactly what you were looking for when you were thinking of learning to play the piano, then go for it!
Just for reference, here is a list of four chord songs, that you could learn to play:
Spirit in the Sky – Norman Greenbaum
La Bamba – Richie Valens
Blue Suede Shoes – Carl Perkins/Elvis Presley
The Tide is High – Blondie
Lay Down Sally = Eric Clapton
Cherry, Cherry = Neil Diamond
Free Falling = Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Rockin Robin – Bobby Day
Wild Thing – The Troggs
You Are My Sunshine – Traditional
Surfin’ USA – Beach Boys
Twist and Shout – The Beatles
Blinded by the Light – Bruce Springsteen/Manfred Mann
Sweet Caroline – Neil Diamond
Ob La Di Ob La Da – The Beatles
Chantilly Lace – The Big Bopper
The Horses – Daryl Braithwaite
Cecelia – Simon and Garfunkel
Down on the Corner – Creedance Clearwater Revival
Free Falling – Tom Petty
With a Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker
Feeling Groovy – Simon and Garfunkel
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2
Walk of Life – Dire Straits
I Love Rock and Roll – Joan Jett
Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry
Gloria – Van Morrison
I Fought the Law – Bobby Fuller Four
Blowin’ In The Wind – Bob Dylan
Jack and Diane – John Mellencamp
Land Down Under – Men at Work
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do – Neil Sedaka
Dream Lover = Bobby Darin
Take Me Home Country Roads – John Denver
No Woman, No Cry – Bob Marley
Every Breath You Take – The Police
Where Is The Love – Black-Eyed Peas
Singin in the Rain – Gene Kelly
Day-O (The Banana Boat Song) – Harry Belafonte
Can You Feel The Love Tonight – Elton John
Africa – Toto
No-one – Alicia Keys
Right Here Waiting – Richard Marx
Time to Say Goodbye – Andrea Bocelli
Someone Like You – Adele
Zombie – The Cranberries
This list is far from exhaustive, but as you can see there is a lot of songs. If you were interested in learning only basic piano skills, you could find plenty of songs to play with using just a mere four chords.
So despite some fairly wild claims about learning the piano through an online course, the claim about being able to play a lot with only four chords is not just a marketing ploy – it is true!